ARRL General Bulletin ARLB084 (1998)

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ARLB084 FCC Denies KV4FZ Petition for Reconsideration
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ARRL Bulletin 84 ARLB084
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT October 9, 1998
To all radio amateurs
SB QST ARL ARLB084
ARLB084 FCC Denies KV4FZ Petition for Reconsideration
The KV4FZ legal saga appears headed for the courtroom. The FCC has
denied a petition for reconsideration filed by Herbert L.
Schoenbohm, KV4FZ. This past summer, the FCC upheld the supplemental
initial decision of an administrative law judge denying Schoenbohm's
application to renew his Amateur Radio licenses. The latest FCC
action on October 6--simply affirms that finding.
The next step is the United States Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia Circuit, which hears all appeals from federal agencies
on adjudicatory matters.
ALJ Edward Luton had found that Schoenbohm, of Kingshill, Virgin
Islands, had ''engaged in misrepresentation and lacked candor'' in
testifying about his 1992 felony telephone toll fraud conviction and
his solicitation of ex parte presentations. Schoenbohm was convicted
in federal court of fraudulently using a counterfeit access device
to obtain long-distance telephone service. The FCC also said he
solicited others, using Amateur Radio, to make ex parte
presentations on his behalf, in violation of FCC rules. The FCC said
his behavior, in combination with his fraud conviction, justified
nonrenewal of his ham ticket.
Schoenbohm has been trying to renew his ham ticket for the past four
years. He maintains that the FCC should renew his license because
his conviction was several years ago, his sentence light, and he's
had a spotless record and been fully rehabilitated. The FCC
disagreed, however, saying that Schoenbohm ''has not demonstrated
that he possesses the basic character traits of truthfulness and
reliability that are essential to licenseeship.''
Schoenbohm's license expired in 1995, and his call sign no longer
appears in the FCC database. However, he has been allowed to
continue operating as KV4FZ until his administrative and judicial
appeals are exhausted.
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